TheCellarTapes

The Jimi Hendrix Experience - Are You Experienced
(1967)



Tracks



Born in 1940's Seattle, Jimi Hendrix would go on to be the ultimate guitar Legend in both his native America and more crucially here in the UK. In the mid sixties, Eric Clapton was God having given the blues sound a complete overhaul, however in the late sixties Clapton was revealed to be just a mere prophet for Hendrix had arrived to save us all.

It's well documented that Hendrix had a gift for creating noises from his guitar that only he could create, this much is true, problem is he raised the bar to a level which has not even been sniffed at since the time of his tragic death in 1970, which certainly has left a big hole on mankind's ability to create.

Despite Hendrix's ability and obvious talent, it was only in the last 5 years of his life that he managed to have the huge impact his talent deserved. In 1966, The Animals were on the verge of breaking up, and their bassist Chas Chandler decided he would try his arm at management. Luckily for us, a chance viewing in New York of Hendrix playing blues in a club convinced a gob smacked Chandler that he needed to get this guy over to England.

In England, a rhythm section was forged around him, arguably one of the best rhythm sections ever created. Mitch Mitchell, possibly one of the greatest drummers ever to pick up a pair of sticks and Noel Redding on bass, both had the key ability to keep up with Hendrix and produce the glue needed to make the songs sound the way they did. This new three piece would be called The Jimi Hendrix Experience.



Their first record in the UK was a triumph, released in 1967 on MCA, Are You Experienced was a stunning debut, incorporating at its base the fundamentals of Blues, Rock and Soul with the addition of a more futuristic fuzz sound trying to kick out from all angles, there was also an undeniable jazz influence coming from Hendrix's rhythm section, which probably allowed all these elements to gel with such wonderous results.

Nothing more demonstrates the power in Hendrix's fingers then Foxey Lady, imagine if you will just sitting there having placed the needle on the record to hear that guitar slowly marauding its way through your amp and breaking through to produce one of the most hypnotic guitar riffs ever created, brilliant. Yet more Psychedelic wonders and memorable riffs follow with Manic Depression and Purple Haze, but there is much more then just that. There's a mental instrumental with Third Stone From The Sun, and even a tender side being demonstrated on the album, with beautifully poetic songs like The Wind Cries Mary and Hey Joe

This is album is frenzied and raw yet at the same time is beautiful, this album was responsible for launching Hendrix onto a stage much bigger then those days where he was in the Isley Brothers backing band a few years earlier, the clamps were now off and he was loose, this was where the legend began.

Thanks to later issues, there is now no missing links between the UK version of this album and the US version, its now all available on one album, if you're one of those collector types, you might want to buy both versions, but if not, I'm sure the 17 track version will do you fine.

Gavin B.

Your reviews are quite insightful. I find it hard to believe you are so young.. you've definitely done your homework.

I share your love of the Kinks. They were the true survivors of the first wave British Invasion. Ray Davies never rested on his laurels as a songwriter and many of his current songs reflect a man who is still in touch with the world and his own sense of rebellion. The fact that Ray Davies, at age 62, can write a song like Things Are Going to Change (the Morning After) ... a ruthless reassessment of his own personal failures, is evidence of his fierce committment to confronting his own artistic demons.

I think a lot of Americans missed the humor and the double edged social commentary of Ray Davies' songs, which were uniquely British observations about the rigid and oppressive system of class relations in England.

jackhammer

Do you have any up's for some of these albums? I have been meaning to check out Os Mutantes for ages and The Sonics i'm definitely interested in.

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TheCellarTapes

I'm afraid not Jack,

I'm not down with the kids when it comes to uploads, and have issues (probably linked to an OCD ) where I must have the physical record scattered around my abode.

TheCellarTapes

The Sonics - Here Are The Sonics
(1965)



Tracks

1 The Witch 2:40
2 Do You Love Me 2:18
3 Roll Over Beethoven 2:49
4 Boss Hoss 2:24
5 Dirty Robber 2:02
6 Have Love, Will Travel 2:40
7 Psycho 2:17
8 Money 2:00
9 Walkin' the Dog 2:45
10 Night Time Is the Right Time 2:58
11 Strychnine 2:13
12 Good Golly Miss Molly 2:08

If you ever wanted to know what a ton of dynamite would sound like if you lit the fuse and gave it some microphones, guitars, drums and a saxophone, then listen no further. Here it is ladies and gentlemen, 100% unfiltered TNT, all the way from Tacoma, in America's northwest, Here Are The Sonics.

Here Are The Sonics is the debut from the brilliant Sonics, released on The Norton Record Label in 1965, the album was a commercial flop proving once and for all that the mass record buying public then, like today, are a pretty foolish bunch. But hopefully you have your head screwed on and will no doubt love this album after one listen or even half a listen.



Other then the health risks, what really is there not to like about this album?

Highlights on the album are many and involve either a riff sent from the bowels of the earth, a series of beats crashing down from Mount Olympus or a scream that can kill Santa Claus and ultimately probably did, most likely though it is a combination of all three of these factors in the same song. Psycho, The Witch, Strychnine, Keep A Knockin', Boss Hoss, Have Love Will Travel, Dirty Robber, it is all happening with this album, seriously these songs are some of the finest to come out of America, let alone the 1960's, and The Sonics have been genius enough to have created all these great songs in time for their debut album.

Here Are The Sonics in short is one of the ultimate Sixties Garage albums, containing pure grit, as live as it is raw and containing filthy raunch that would make a nun faint, a landmark American album, one of the great debuts, and very much under appreciated by the mass consumer, that's about it really



The Sonics - Boom
(1966)



Tracks

1 Cinderella 2:44
2 Don't Be Afraid of the Dark 2:22
3 Skinny Minnie 2:11
4 Let the Good Times Roll 2:00
5 Don't You Just Know It 2:49
6 Jenny, Jenny 2:19
7 He's Waitin' 2:32
8 Louie, Louie 3:00
9 Since I Fell for You 3:59
10 Hitch Hike 2:45
11 It's All Right 2:10
12 Shot Down 2:08

One of two landmark albums released by Tacoma, Washington's very own, The Sonics. In 1966, The Sonics released the follow up to their triumphant yet largely forgotten debut, "Here Are The Sonics"; "Boom" was just as harsh, just as raw and just as electric as that marvellous release from 1965.

"Boom", released on the Norton Record Label was the last great album from this very much-underrated act. Charting nowhere in 1966 and offering very little in mass consumer appeal, the album forced The Sonics to reassess their sound and focus, as a result this left any follow up albums sadly lacking that little extra bite, making Boom even the more important.

"Boom" is classic Sonics, gritty, electric and pure unadulterated filth, which is all you can ask for from a band who made it their business to turn it up and smack you right between the ears with the equivalent of a bag of spanners.



The album starts with "Cinderella", brace yourself folks, this is proper rock n roll and could scorch the brain, be warned that track 7 "He's Waitin'" has similar health damaging qualities.

Moving to track two we have "Don't Be Afraid of The Dark", which starts off (well first 10 seconds) seemingly all nice and gentle, but then again this is Gerry Roslie on lead vocals so don't get too snug. Roslie's vocals are very strong on this album; for example his vocals on "Jenny Jenny", are by no means overshadowed by the Little Richard original. It's a shame that this man's talents weren't more widely recognised at the time.

Another powerful cover from The Sonics can be found on "Boom", "Louie Louie" I think sums The Sonics up perfectly, taking a simple idea and injecting it with napalm and making it unbelievably dirty and explosive. A formula, which started in 1965 and very much continued with this 1966 release.

From start to finish this second album from The Sonics is a real treat, so hunt it down.

TheCellarTapes

The Sundowners - Captain Nemo
(1968)



Tracks



The Sundowners were formed in 1959 in Lake George, New York; however they only ever released one LP, the cult classic Captain Nemo in 1968, a low selling record which you can now purchase for a shockingly cheap amount (in Mancunia anyway).

The Sundowners between 65 and their subsequent demise in the late sixties would be there or thereabouts, coming close to fame and fortune but never quite achieving it themselves, playing alongside such household names as The Monkees, Ike & Tina Turner and Jimi Hendrix. They also tried their arm at acting, appearing in a couple of films in the late sixties alongside some illustrious names, but soon they would vanish leaving not much of a trace.

However the one trail they did leave for us all was their one release in 1968, released on the Decca record label. This is somewhat of a Sunshine Pop/Psychedelic underground classic; Captain Nemo was very much overlooked by the record buying public of the day. This was probably due to the amount of quality albums being released in that year which no doubt out muscled The Sundowners down the pecking order, particular with the alternative less mainstream record buying public. It also suffers from not having a particular outstanding single, something which I will come back to.



But now forty years on, I think this album can be reassessed as a release which should have done a lot better. The production on the album for example, done by Sundowner guitarist Dominick DeMieri, is of a very high and exceptional standard; the songs as said previously although not particularly amazing, are of a quality which as a collection of songs makes you feel satisfied with life, and a front cover which it has to be said is a fine piece of art.

So all in all, this album is actually a strong piece containing some nice wholesome tracks. Songs like the opening track, Sunny Day People, Dear Undecided and Edge of Love certainly will not have you going back to the shop for a refund. A definite must for collectors and a general all round thumbs up from me.

TheCellarTapes

Here's something which I hope is mildly informative and of interest.

The first 3 parts of Blues in The Cellar, looking at the artists from the early 20th Century, who I have no doubt had a huge role in making the 1960's the decade it was musically. Enjoy

Part 1 - Blind Willie McTell


Part 2 - Robert Johnson


Part 3 - Brownie McGhee

TheCellarTapes

The Velvet Underground - The Velvet Underground & Nico
(1967)



Tracks


One of the most influential releases ever to grace the world of popular music, its effect shaped the course of Glam Rock, Punk, Goth, New Romantics, Indie and no doubt even music which is not very good. It truly is a special album, which deserves its hype amongst music critics and fans alike.

Released in 1967 on The Verve Record Label, The Velvet Underground and Nico really does stand out from other albums recorded during 1966/67. When we talk about the production efforts going into other 1967 releases like Sgt Pepper, or even the closest British equivalent to the Velvets; Pink Floyd's Piper at the Gates, The Velvet Underground's production on their debut is pretty much none existent, but for me that surely is the point.

The album was apparently produced by Pop Art pioneer, Andy Warhol, but in reality his role in the making of this album was to house the band in his eccentric New York art house, The Factory, to sign the cheques and to introduce the band to the mysterious German model come singer Christa Päffgen or Nico as she was known. It also has to be said that Warhol also created the front cover, one of the most iconic front covers ever to come out of America. But in musical terms, this album is really a Lou Reed/John Cale masterpiece.



Instead of producing a typical late sixties album, Reed, Cale and Co produced a beautiful yet stripped down album with songs as poignant as the city it was born. Songs like Heroin and Venus in Furs provide the darkness while songs like the beautiful Sunday Morning, Femme Fatale and I'll be Your Mirror brighten up your day, even if the meaning behind the lyrics are probably just as dark as the previously mentioned songs. Run Run Run and I'm Waiting for the Man are as raw and garagy foot tappy as the best of them, while All Tomorrow's Parties is as avant-garde as they come, what more can you ask?

Like many folk, I tend to avoid things which are clouded in hype because normally they are quite the let down, however with this album; I have nothing but praise and admiration. Believe the hype.

TheCellarTapes

The Left Banke - Walk Away Renee/Pretty Ballerina
(1967)



Tracks


Formed in New York in 1965, The Left Banke were a band who mixed classical arrangements with sunshine pop, the result was to see them produce a version of “Baroque'n'Roll” not heard since. Driven musically by the teenage prodigy, chief songwriter and pianist; Michael Brown, whilst driven financially by Brown’s father, in 1967 they released one of only two albums, Walk Away Renee/Pretty Ballerina, released on Smash.

The album from track one; right through to track 11 is a piece of work which deserves its own wing at an art gallery. With tracks so beautifully arranged mixed with sweet harmonisation running through its core, the music on this record literally glows from the speaker it is that stunningly good.



The album contains the band’s hits, reaching number 15 Pretty Ballerina is a glorious song and a fine opener. The other hit from the album was their number 5 single, Walk Away Renee, which features on track 7. Both songs however are the tip of a much bigger and bolder iceberg, for all these songs on this record are of a quality unrivalled by many of the better known bands from the sixties.

However to create these beautiful songs, session musicians would be drafted in which in turn led to the downfall of this promising band. Creating such wondrous records as they did, they were never able to consistently recreate their beautiful signature tunes out on the road, a fact further exacerbated by Michael Brown’s decision to focus more on studio work then tour dates. The band would fall victim to this and indeed dissolved in 1969

The Left Banke despite their marvellous and gorgeous debut (their follow up aint bad either), are today largely unrecognised. In fact so unrecognised are The Left Banke that none of their albums or subsequent compilations are still in production, meaning the price for any of their works has inflated out of control, which to be honest is a shocking state of affairs. If you like anything remotely wistful, beautiful and sweet, wrapped in a blanket of brilliance, then this album is surely for you.

Despite the market value, not all is lost, get in touch with your local independent record shop; they’ll know what to do.

jackhammer

Nice review of Madcap Laughs. I reviewed it myself for my Pink Floyd thread and was interesting comparing the two. As for the up's no worries. We will convert in the ways of the upload

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